Need Advice re BB spec <or bards in general>

[old.ivan]

Ok i had the template figured out but now that i havent played DaoC for more than a month i totally lost the correct one... Im making a Bard and currently thinking of Pure Support Bard or Battlebard tm...
So i would like some feedback on what the BB spec is like if anyone tried it out... i know 'da animul' had a go at it but since he rolled a skald now im becoming more and more dubious with my BB spec decision.

So please post your thoughts on BB specs here.. im very gratefull for any decent advices

 

[old.ivan]

ok have two Final spec templates in mind now.... 43N-10R-44M-21W and 33N-9R-44M-35W

cant decide... help

 

[old.Svintha]

Well I'm no bard but 47 music, 43 nurture is imo a must for a bard (laste ae insta mess and best speed). Throw the rest into regrowth (~16). You'll hit for sissy damage even if you spec weapon so its not worth it

 

[Jood]

My Bard is specced

47 music
43 nurture
16 regrowth

Lets tanks fight and droods heal, CC rules, if u get ur CC susssed heals are easy cept in zerg then nothing u do matters

Top Mezz, Top Speed , weeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

[Cernos]

Ain't no such thing as a Battle Bard. Bards hit for too little damage and reinforced armour, evade 2 and shield without spec aren't going to keep you alive.

43N-10R-44M-21W

Would be an ok spec, but don't expect that weapon skill to buy you much damage. Might be better lowering it and getting regrowth to 16 for the better rezz.

33N-9R-44M-35W

Would be horribly gimpy (and I mean horribly). You'll do barely any more damage with the extra weapons spec and with only run song 4 any skald can chase you down and mash you up with their better melee and DDs. You'll not be anywhere near as useful to a group than any bard with run song 5 (every bard I know who tried stopping at run song 4 ended up respeccing to 5). Consider run song 5 as essential for a bard, a class defining skill no-one else in the realm can offer. Without it, why not roll a Warden instead?

Cernos
50 Celt Hero, Raven Ardent, Hib Prydwen

 

[old.ivan]

yeah ok point taken melee prolly not the way to go, however i can see some bias here too after all you would want to see all bads with highest speed and CC But i trust your word, however saying that i would love to hear some feedback on the last insta AE mezz and some feedback on speed comparison that of 189 and 204 <i think> please.

Cheers

 

[Cernos]

Sure, I'm probably biased because as a Hero I like to run with bards with run speed 5 and good CC. But I'm just raising the hard reality that bards aren't very good solo RvR characters. They are however the pulsing heart of any good RvR group. Most bards never fight in a group. Some spec more towards crowd control, some spec more towards heals, some spec zero in weapon to be full support, but almost all spec for top speed song and top endurance song because those are vital to the success of any group.

Why run song 5 instead of 4? Well consider that all Skalds will have run song 5, because Skalds get ALL their songs and spells in one spec line (Battlesongs). So, it's almost a dead cert that any Skald-driven Mid group will travel at speed 5. Most Minstrels spec to speed 5 too. Therefore if you only have run song 4, then 95%+ of speed-driven Mid and Alb groups will outrun your group. This means that you can't chase them down or keep your distance from them if retreating.

This also applies if you wish to attempt to solo. Which is why stopping at run song 4 is such a gimp spec.

Cernos
50 Celt Hero, Raven Ardent, Hib Prydwen

 

[Luuna]

Well I'm no bard but 47 music, 43 nurture is imo a must for a bard (laste ae insta mess and best speed).

47 Music is not worth the points ... for an AE instant mezz that only last 5 - 10 seconds longer? The more you play a Bard in RvR the more you realise instant mezzes are purely for defence ... I only use them when chasing down someone who is running away. Castable mezz is by far the superior spell.

My spec is Music 44, Nurture 43, Regrow 16, Weapon 17 ... Take into account that now that RA's have been introduced it makes playign a battlebard even harder than before. Before RA's, when forced to go melee I could take down any mage and hunters/scouts. Now it's harder since they FA and IP their way out of your DD damage which is where most of your damage comes from in melee anyway. Assasins are a little easier to take down now tho ... they PA you, you instant mezz, cure/purge, heal, melee.

 

[Jood]

Originally posted by Luuna


47 Music is not worth the points ... for an AE instant mezz that only last 5 - 10 seconds longer? The more you play a Bard in RvR the more you realise instant mezzes are purely for defence

I'm not goin to get into the pro's and con's if insta mezz, But afaik I am the only person on Hib/Pryd who has a music 47spec bard, yes yes everyone goes on about the timer. Insta has its place and its a real shame that I appear to be the only one on our server that sees it, ive started actually telling grps how infreaquently i use cast, and they pretty supprised to discover i have insta aoe in the first place and that i am using cast only when were outnumbered, soon the word will spread and bards maybe will take it on board, seems till then i am on my own tho but no complaints from me or anyone i grp with


Im not saying u have to have music 47, but when it boils down to it, all the Anti Insta aoe Bards have never actually used it, cos err they dont have it.

I suggest u read some of the US boards, chk out Excal also maybe. I would not spec a bard with out insta aoe...but that's from someone who actaully has 47 spec music.

 

[Leah]

I've gone full support with
43 Nurture
33 Regrowth
37 Music

And must say that I love that spec and haven't even thought of respeccing even though I still have my full respec left. Can't kill much at all (no high weps, and only second to last dd shout) but I can be the main healer as well if necessary

The only reason I've not gone for 47 music is the changes done to decrease usefulness of mez:
- Decreased duration at outer edges (applies to insta mez as well)
- Increased rezists
- Cheap tank RAs in next version

So in all imo it will not make the insta mez very useful as it will have a very short duration, especially on tanks who are the first ones to go for bards anyway. And once the mez wears off / is broken / gets rezistsed you'll get a minute mez imunity - more than enough to turn the battle the other way.

It's a matter of personal preference really. Battle bard is probably not a good idea but anything else is fine as long as you're happy with it and enjoy playing your bard that way

 

[Jood]

Originally posted by Leah


So in all imo it will not make the insta mez very useful as it will have a very short duration.

Yes Yes Only 1 bard on hib has insta aoe, uses insta aoe, and has ever seen it used

Maybe it has something to do with my grp not needing a whole heap of time to take out the enemy

/em gives up trying to sell this to bards on hib
/em saultes affective grps